Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 1.djvu/722

 706 are derived from the vegetable kingdom. Every people has its own favorite condiment. Every one likes to find an agreeable flavor in his food, and we have it prepared in such a way as to acquire the peculiar flavor we like. For the same reason we like variety in articles of food. In time the persistent impression of one flavor produces disgust, and so what once was savory now becomes unpleasant. Therefore, if one were to be confined for a considerable time to a fixed diet, he would not thrive upon it, no matter how rich it might be in the elements of nutrition, for the reason that the influence of the condiment would be nullified.

There are, besides, many other influences which act upon digestion, but of which we commonly think little. In taking food we strive to combine various enjoyments, so that many organic manifestations may conspire together to promote the action of the digestive apparatus. The organ of smell is situated near that of taste. Those dishes which contain volatile elements are rather smelt than tasted. "We give an agreeable smell to some articles of food by adding to them others which are fragrant. Dishes to which we are unaccustomed we partake of with repugnance, and generally they cannot be retained. We also give to dishes agreeable forms, and set them on the table with some regard to their appearance, and this makes them "appetizing." If they are served up without any regard to such considerations, they excite only repugnance. The frame of mind in which one may happen to be is also a matter of importance. If our thoughts are preëngaged, or if we are in trouble, we have no desire for food. The presence of a sprightly child, or of friends, at the board, is a true condiment. How different is the process of digestion when a meal is taken in full view of a pleasing landscape, or behind the bars of a prison-cell!

We are continually exposed to a multitude of excitations or influences from without. These give us sensations which are not alone agreeable, but also useful and necessary. Thus alone can we live. Though by many persons the limits of moderation are overstepped in seeking this kind of gratification, and they are made thus hurtful, it does not thence follow that they are to be avoided. If some men make an abusive use of food, we are not therefore to conclude that the proper course is to abstain altogether from food, any more than we should conclude, from the fact that the feasts of Lucullus are every day repeated, that therefore, instead of palatable food, whether animal or vegetable, one should eat only a tasteless mixture of albuminates, fat, starch, etc. There is danger of excess in every action we perform, but a man of sense will always respect the law which determines for him what is beneficial and what hurtful.—Revue Scientifique.